He lost the leadership positions on 1 December 2009, by one vote to Tony Abbott. Turnbull had agreed to allow the government's emissions trading scheme (ETS) to pass through the parliament. This was opposed by many people in the Liberal Party who argued that an ETS was unnecessary.[3] Other people in the party thought an ETS would harm Australia's coal exports. Others in the party did not like the way that Turnbull managed the arguments within his party.

↑"Passage to wild colonial days: The Hawkesbury has rich links to our nation's pioneers" (Escape, p34), John Rozentals in the Sunday Telegraph, 2009-08-16, noting 'Bligh' comes from great-great-great-grandfather John Turnbull who has "so incensed by the treatment of governorWilliam Bligh during the Rum Rebellion that he named one of his sons William Bligh Turnbull in his honour. It's a tradition that has continued right down to..." Malcolm Bligh Turnbull.